posted
I don't think a rant captured on Youtube can be considered to demonstrate much of anything by itself. We don't know the context of her life at all. We certainly don't know if this one individual reflects anything broader about the population of the country.
Posts: 8120 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Maybe it's just an indictment of the policy established in the 70s of releasing all the long-term residents of mental health institutions to the world at large.
Or maybe this is a fast and testimony meeting and the woman's brain doesn't perform well when she's fasting. I sometimes wonder if the maunderers are more cogent on days when they haven't been fasting.
Maybe she's doing an open mic night in an avant garde poetry festival.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:Certainly it is good evidence that our educational system failed this woman.
That's quite a different thing from saying '...of the failure of the US educational system' though, Rabbit. Unless we're going to say that one sick person dying is good evidence of the failure of modern medicine, I don't see how it's reasonable to say one (possibly) stupid person can be taken, absent any context, as good evidence of the failure of our US educational system.
Fine, I only meant 'a failure' of the system. You are placing more emphasis on the definite article that I intended. It is certainly not evidence of broad scale failure of the educational system, it is only a specific instance of failure and only that presuming that this woman is not seriously mentally deficient or ill.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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quote:Originally posted by katharina: I think posting it is another instance of the continual online freak show.
This thread is good evidence that there is an endless audience for shadenfruedy mockery.
Amen!! I really wonder what point Lisa was trying to make in posting it. She generally isn't the type who revels in mocking stupid people nor is she generally stupid enough herself to believe that one nut rambling in a public hearing is a strong argument against democracy.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: I would have labeled it as a good evidence of the failure of the US educational system, unless the woman is really mentally ill. How could any sane person make it to adulthood in the US believing there was still slavery on the east coast?
Something like this?
quote:Elsa's daughter, who was rescued in New York, is expected to be a key witness against members of the Carreto family. Their trial for sex trafficking is expected to begin this spring.
There are an estimated 4,600 women currently held in the United States as sex slaves.
(Thats my only guess for what kind of thing a person might be thinking about when making such a statement. Not that I'm saying people necessarily "believe" in it as a whole, but more as insight into the possible workings of her mind)
Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Orincoro: In the meantime, how about you lay off our state. Nobody here insulted your state or its people- that kind of talk is really not welcome.
People in this thread are making sweeping generalizations about the U.S, the educational system, or even the entire idea of democracy - but it's a bad thing when I narrow it down to a specific state? Actually, I should narrow it to the Bay Area of California, I'm sure northern Californians don't contribute much to this.
As for my state, I was born and raised in Minnesota! there's usually not a week goes by that someone doesn't crack a joke about my state or my accent. I just laugh it off, because it's funny, ya know?
Anyway, I figure if people can make fun of bumbling country boys like me who speak like we're straight out of Norway, I can make fun of ignorant valley girls. I am sorry if I offended you - I was aiming to make a wise crack based on my observations, not insult board members. But can you admit there's some truth to what I've said about the culture out there?
Posts: 2222 | Registered: Dec 2008
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quote:As for my state, I was born and raised in Minnesota! there's usually not a week goes by that someone doesn't crack a joke about my state or my accent.
Don't you mean Minne-soh-ta?
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Dogbreath: People in this thread are making sweeping generalizations about the U.S, the educational system, or even the entire idea of democracy - but it's a bad thing when I narrow it down to a specific state? Actually, I should narrow it to the Bay Area of California, I'm sure northern Californians don't contribute much to this.
The Bay Area IS part of Northern California - it also happens to be the center of most technological innovation in the the US (and, really, the world). Also, valley girls are a SoCal concept.
If you're going to insult a few million people, at least make sure you're insulting the right ones.
P.S. There go all my beliefs about 'Minnesota nice." Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Orincoro: In the meantime, how about you lay off our state. Nobody here insulted your state or its people- that kind of talk is really not welcome.
People in this thread are making sweeping generalizations about the U.S, the educational system, or even the entire idea of democracy - but it's a bad thing when I narrow it down to a specific state? Actually, I should narrow it to the Bay Area of California, I'm sure northern Californians don't contribute much to this.
Are you aware of where the Bay Area is located, or did you simply mistype... or did I misunderstand some attempt at irony here? The Bay Area is the cultural nexus of Northern California. That being said, this particular person doesn't appear to be from the Bay Area, but from Santa Cruz, which is also part of Northern California, but to anyone in the know, is not part of the bay area.
quote: But can you admit there's some truth to what I've said about the culture out there?
No. You haven't said anything of substance about the culture. You do not understand it. I am in a position to criticize Northern Californian culture (and I do), but you are not.
Now to address what you did say, you were responding to a common stereotype largely concerning people who live in the more isolated and wealthy or socially liberal parts of Northern California, outside of the metropolitan areas, but not as rural as the valley or the far north- places like Santa Cruz, Marin County, Yolo County, Humbolt, etc. The stereotype is of air-headed upper middle class children of hippies and socialists who left the cities a generation ago, taking with them their love of psuedo-scientific naturalism and herbal medicines, but maintaining their upper middle class conservatism in most respects, other than cosmetic adoption of certain philosophies and ways of speaking. That general class of people does exist. It exists, in fact, all over the United States. It can be found in many such places- Boulder Colorado, Helena Montana, Vermont, ppstate New York, Hawaii, certain parts of Iowa, and Kansas. It is one echo of the peace and love generation that still exists all over the nation. Whether or not there are actually more of these kinds of people in California than in other places is debatable. Personally I don't see it- you don't meet a lot of these people if you're actually in the Bay Area, a part of the state known for liberalism, but also for pragmatism. Certainly, it is not a California-breed phenomenon. It gets that reputation, and paradoxically it is connected in the public imagination with surfing culture, which has little relation to it (surfing was not popularized first among the middle class), because California is the center of fictional media in the US, specifically of television and films. Thus, California knows California best, and Californians lampoon and display these types of people, representing them as Californian. It's not a surprise that California has become the home to legions of different fictional social niches which the nation as a whole believe exist in force, and are much more cartoonish than their actual real life counterparts.
And I mean, seriously dude, you were basing an observation of Californian culture ( northern Californian culture) on what you've seen on television, created somewhere else. Who's the ditz?
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: I would have labeled it as a good evidence of the failure of the US educational system, unless the woman is really mentally ill. How could any sane person make it to adulthood in the US believing there was still slavery on the east coast?
Honestly: she was probably just baked off her ass, if not experiencing some sort of terrible mega-stage-fright effect, if not both.
Couple it with her not exactly being the sharpest knife in the drawer aaaaand
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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No one has yet to suggest that it's a joke- but that would be too good to believe. Nobody is that good a performer.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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I don't know; for the first thirty seconds I was convinced it was fake. There are a lot of dumb people out there, but I don't think I've ever met one that dumb/baked/nervous.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:Originally posted by katharina: I think "this is an argument against democracy" is code for "Everybody check out the stupid person! Hahahahahahaha!! *points and laughs*"
This is what I would assume also. I think given Lisa's history of engagement in political threads most people are jumping to a certain conclusion about the thread title. I'm willing give the benefit of the doubt and assume she was joking.
quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: I would have labeled it as a good evidence of the failure of the US educational system, unless the woman is really mentally ill. How could any sane person make it to adulthood in the US believing there was still slavery on the east coast?
Honestly: she was probably just baked off her ass, if not experiencing some sort of terrible mega-stage-fright effect, if not both.
Couple it with her not exactly being the sharpest knife in the drawer aaaaand
Honestly, the kind of slavery she was referring to is obviously (in context) the sweatshops in other countries. Nike, for example. That's not to say that she isn't a dipsy-doodle, but that particular criticism isn't valid.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Dogbreath: Actually, I should narrow it to the Bay Area of California, I'm sure northern Californians don't contribute much to this.
I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt before, but now you've made me angry Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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